Her Own Academia
by Mel11597
Summary: "I will drive out the darkness with my light!" Like all teenagers her age, Hikari Hinata dreams of becoming a pro hero one day. However, there are several obstacles to surpass and mysteries to unravel in order to achieve that dream.
1. I - A Heroic Proclamation

It was springtime in Japan. A gentle breeze carried pink petals throughout the city and perfect puffy clouds passed overhead, dotting the blue sky. Not too far from the downtown part of the city, students at Rozaryu Junior High School were buzzing with energy as they made preparations.

"I hope each of you have chosen a high school to attend now that this your last school year," a tall teacher with dark cobalt hair said as she passed out forms for her students to fill out. "Entrance exams are very difficult, so be sure to study for them."

A sheet fluttered down onto Hikari Hinata's dark copper hands. The girl twirled her pencil in and out of her long, wavy teal hair, lost in thought as she analyzed the paper with matching teal eyes. Finally, she slowly wrote down her potential schools, methodical in the way she wrote her choices.

Two dark brown curls suddenly obscured Hikari's sight of the form. It was none other than her friend Ochako Uraraka. She leaned over her friend's desk and asked eagerly, "Hey, Hikari, which school are you applying for?"

Hikari hesitated for a moment before answering, "Well, I was thinking about going to U.A. and-"

An excited gasp interrupted Hikari. "You want to go to U.A. too?!"

"Yeah, and I wanna-" Hikari paused. "Wait, too?"

"Yeah, I wanna go to U.A. and become a hero!" Ochako cheered excitedly as she raised a fist to the air.

"Uraraka! Hinata! Lower your voices! This is not a group project!" their teacher, Maeda-sensei, as they called her, barked from the front of the class. Several kids giggled as Ochako blushed bright red. Hikari just grinned and gave a thumbs up.

"We'll keep it down, sensei!" the teal-haired girl shouted back. Maeda-sensei nodded once before returning to grading papers.

Hikari turned to her friend as the last of giggles finally dissolved. "I think you'll become a great pro-hero, Ochako," she continued, "With your quirk, you can float away enemies in a snap!"

Her friend blushed slightly, surprised at the sudden praise. "Yeah. I just hope I'm strong enough for when the entrance exam comes," she mumbled, her eyes suddenly looking at the floor. She began to fiddle with the little pink pads on her fingertips.

An idea sparked in Hikari's head. She slammed her hands against her desk and exclaimed, "Then let's train together! We can become stronger and ace the exam and go to U.A!"

Her friend's eyes widened in hope. "You really think so?"

"Yep! Let's start today!" Hikari responded enthusiastically. She took Ochako's hands into hers. "You'll see. You and I will be the best pro-heroes Japan has ever seen!"

Ochako nodded vigorously, a grin growing on her face. Her suddenly watery eyes glittered with hope. "Yeah!"

"Uraraka! Hinata! Second warning!"

"Sorry, sensei!"

"Yes, sensei!"

/

Once the final bell rang, Ochako and Hikari began their daily trek home, but not before stopping at a small snack shop.

"Oh man, I don't have any money," Ochako pouted as she looked down at her coin purse.

"That's okay, I can cover you! I have enough money!" Hikari grinned. She pushed the mochi and pocky onto the counter. "That's what friends are for!"

Her friend smiled. "Thanks, Hikari. You're the best!"

After paying for the sweets and two carbonated drinks, the two stepped outside to be greeted by sudden rain. "Huh? Rain? I didn't expect it to rain. It didn't show any sign on the news," Ochako commented, holding out a hand to feel the rain.

Hikari grinned mischievously. "Well, why don't we run?"

That's how the two ended up running in the rain, screaming and giggling on their way home. Their feet splashed through large puddles of water and soaked their shoes. Hikari held her school bag over her head to shield her face and hair from the rain. They weaved through the crowd, though some people stepped out of their way, but not everybody did, when suddenly-

_BAM!_ Hikari ran smack into somebody! She fell to the ground, her purple bag cast onto a small puddle. In front of her there was a plain looking boy with mossy green hair and a gakuran uniform. It definitely wasn't somebody from her school.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologized. The boy, however, looked unfazed by the collision and got up to continue walking. He had a dazed expression on. It worried Hikari for a moment, but she figured no harm done and ran to catch up to Ochako.

/

Because they ended up not training that day as they had promised, the duo ended up going to Hikari's apartment to snack and talk.

"Jeez, I seriously need to change. I got totally soaked," Hikari huffed as she marched directly to her room. After she had bumped into that boy and taken the fall, her uniform was dripping wet. The clothes were now a darker shade and weighed her down.

"Pardon the intrusion!" called out Ochako. When there was no response, she asked, "Your dad's not here yet?" She placed her shoes near the door before stepping into the apartment, trying her best not to ogle the moderately wealthy apartment.

"No, he texted me that he had extra paperwork to do, since there was a big villain attack today," Hikari answered, her voice muffled and far-away. "He texted me about it."

"What about your sister Maru? She should be out of school by now," Ochako commented.

"Oh, yeah, she's with my aunt and my cousin. He'll pick her up when he's done with work."

Finally, Hikari emerged from her room. She wore a simple white shirt with short, puffy sleeves and pastel pink shorts. She tossed a towel to her friend, who gratefully accepted it. "Hey, Ochako, why do you want to become a hero?"

"E-eh?! Me?" the girl of interest squeaked. "Oh, you know, t-to save people and stuff!" She stuttered as she scratched the back of her head. If she was lying, Hikari didn't catch it. She stared out the window, lost in thought.

"Well… I want to fulfill my wish... and avenge my mom."

* * *

**A/N: Aaaaand here it is, ladies and gentlemen (and non-binary folks)! My MHA fic! I've had this in my docs for months and I finally get to publish it! I'm super excited for it and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do! Leave a heart and comment and have a nice day!**


	2. II - Training

Almost everyday after school, Hikari and Ochako would rush to their respective homes and meet up at the Uraraka Construction Site, where they trained for hours on end. This practice, though, was the last one; the exam was the following day.

"RELEASE!"

A rain of debris fell from the sky, shaking the earth as it hit. Clouds of dirt swirled around Ochako as she breathed in and out, her breath labored.

Hikari, at a safe distance from her, opened one eye and called out, "How much was that?"

"Th-Three tons, I think," Ochako answered carefully, doing her best to suppress the urge to hurl her lunch.

"That's great, keep it up!"

With a weak thumbs up, Ochako returned to touching as many junk parts as possible in order to make them weightless. By forcing herself to exceed her limits, she would be able to carry more weight if a situation called for it.

Hikari, on the other hand, had begun meditating under the sun as much as possible. She had to let sunlight enter her skin in order to use her quirk much like a solar panel. Of course, this meant lots and lots of sunscreen.

After a few minutes, she rose to her feet and faced a heap of scrap metal. A shield, golden yellow with intricate designs, manifested over her wrist. Hikari ran a few paces and launched the shield like a frisbee. It successfully sliced through the rubble.

"Yes!" she cheered. It had taken her weeks to perfect the move. At first, her shields could barely make a dent into the metal. Now, she was sure that the shields could do some serious damage if she allowed it.

Hikari continued to throw shields onto the pile of metal until there was nothing left. Sweat covered her brow as she breathed heavily, her body exhausted beyond belief.

"Hey girls, how's training going?" Ochako's father asked, two water bottles in his hands.

"Great, thanks dad!" Ochako thanked as she gratefully accepted the water.

"I'll say," agreed Hikari as she drank, "Thanks for letting us use this site as a place to train."

"Ah, it's no problem at all." The man ran a hand through his hand. "Like it's been any use as of late."

Hikari's eyebrow quirked upwards, curiosity piqued. Ochako rapidly waved a hand and blurted, "Anyway's, Hikari, let's call it a day, why don't we?"

A grin grew on Hikari's face. "Not before we spar for one last time."

"It's on!"

/

"I'm home!" Hikari called out as she stepped into her apartment. She sighed as she peeled off her shoes and placed them near the doorway. She felt like she could pass out until-

"Hiichan's here! Hiichan's here!" a voice cried out with glee. It was none other than Maru Hinata, Hikari's baby sister. She was only six and attending primary school. Although many of her classmates' quirks had already manifested, Maru had yet to show any signs of a quirk. Hikari opened her arms wide and let Maru collide into her arms.

"Jeez, Hikari, where have you been? Dinner was an hour ago." And that was the voice of her younger cousin, Ichiro Hinata, a soon-to-be first-year in middle school who was clever and wise beyond his years. He stood over her, hands on his hips.

Hikari blew a raspberry at him. "Well, sorry, Ichiro, some of us are busy training to become heroes."

"You're not even in U.A yet, don't get your hopes up."

"Why, you little-"

Hikari, fired up with newfound energy, let go of Maru and tackled her cousin to the ground, wrestling him into a headlock. "Take that back! Take that back, you little dweeb!" she commanded him.

"N-Never!"

"Hey, hey, what's all the fuss about?" barked a voice, belonging to Hikari's aunt Chika Hinata, a single woman that worked a 9-to-5 office job. With an honest tongue and a quick brain, she was no one to be messed around with.

Hikari released him from the chokehold and rose to her feet. "Ah, sorry auntie, just wrestling your kid. He thinks that I can't get into U.A."

"I never said that! I just said to not get your hopes up, you barbarian," Ryoko corrected, fixing his hair into its proper position.

Chika shook her head and karate-chopped her son's head. "Oi, don't say that, you downer! We have to support Hikari's dream in every way we can, and that means encouraging her now while she's training!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he grumbled, annoyed that he had to fix his hair once again.

The woman shifted her attention to her niece and asked, "So how was training today?"

"Great! I can carry more sunlight and my shields can really do some damage now!" Hikari said excitedly as she punched the air. "I hope that'll be enough for tomorrow."

"And I know you'll do great, sweetie," another voice joined in. It was Hikari's father, Mamoru Hinata. His tall, stocky figure rounded the corner, a kind smile on his face. A man in his late thirties, he had short, wavy teal hair pulled back by a simple headband. Despite his figure, he worked as a secretary at the International Hero Agency, where he was kept in constant contact with heroes from all around the world.

Mamoru adjusted his glasses and picked up Maru, who giggled with delight. "You'll take that test and finally become a hero… just like her," he said in a near-whisper.

The air had gotten tense with his statement, and understandably so. It wasn't long after Maru was born that Hikari's mother, Mitsuko Hinata, a pro hero, had gone missing under mysterious circumstances and was declared dead after her body had been found a few months later. It left a hole not only in the hero community, but in Hikari's home life as well. Mamoru grieved deeply for his wife, becoming clinically depressed as his life spiralled out of control. Hikari was only eleven when it happened, but she understood the impact it left on herself and her father, leaving her and her aunt to raise Maru on their own. She didn't have any close friends after elementary school due to her grief.

"C'mon, Mamoru, not you too! Don't be such a downer when tomorrow it's all about your kid," Chika scolded. Despite her bluff, Hikari could see a faint inkle of sadness in her aunt's eyes. Even Ichiro turned away, refusing to let anyone see his dispirited face.

"Don't worry, dad, I'll avenge mom. She wouldn't want you to be sad like this," Hikari assured him. Her vision became blurry due to her tears, but she wiped them away with her sleeve.

"Yeah, you're right, Hikari." The man cleared his throat. "Now, let's get you some dinner. You've got a big day tomorrow."

* * *

**A/N: Wowie, so I'm in the middle of rewriting a few things since, looking back, I'm not at all satisfied with the timeskip and little background I've given on Hikari's family. I'm much more satisfied with this and I hope that this sheds a bit of light (hehe) onto the Hinata family and their dynamic. Anyways, thanks for reading! **


	3. III - Entrance Exam: Start!

It was now late in the wintertime, trees bare from any greenery. A chilly breeze blew in the balmy morning. Dressed warmly in coats and scarves over their school uniforms, HIkari and Ochako walked to the front of U.A High School. Many other students from other schools walked towards the tall concrete gate. This was it! They finally made it!

_All of our hard work will be put to the test! I know it'll all be worth it and- _The sound of running feet on the tiled path interrupted her thoughts. Ochako had run ahead of her to stop someone from falling; they were now floating instead. Hikari laughed as the person began to suddenly freak out in midair.

"I stopped you with my quirk," she heard Ochako explain to the green-haired boy she had saved. "I'm sorry I didn't ask first, but I figured you wouldn't mind me catching you." The boy was speechless, still astonished by her power.

"Isn't this all, like, way nerve-wracking?" the bubbly girl asked the boy, oblivious to his staring and Hikari approaching her.

Hikari patted her friend's shoulder. "Hey, hey, you're saving people before we've even taken the test! You got this in the bag!" she complimented. Hikari could feel the boy switch his anxious gaze to her. _His nerves are through the roof, they're like fireworks! _she thought, her smile turning lopsided and sweat-dropping under his panicky eyes. They were green, just like his hair. _He looks kinda familiar somehow..._

Ochako's shoulders relaxed under her touch. "Well, I guess I'll see you inside. Bye!" she said to the boy. She turned away and began up the stairs, Hikari close behind.

"Let's do this!" Hikari whooped and pumped her fist in the air.

/

At the presentation, Hinata sat between Ochako and a boy with wild, lavender colored hair. _He looks like he doesn't get much sleep. _Even in the dimly lit room, she could see the dark bags under her eyes. His matching lavender irises turned to catch her staring. "What are you looking at?" he bluntly asks her in a low voice.

Hinata's eyes widened and she began to babble. "Me? Oh, uh, nothing, really, it's just that-"

"Then I suggest not getting distracted and pay attention," the boy interrupted, droning in his monotone voice. Hikari, suddenly embarrassed, faced towards the screen, where someone stepped into the stage.

"What's up, U.A candidates? Thanks for tuning in to me, your school DJ! C'mon and lemme hear ya!" a voice loudly announced. He was dressed from head to toe in black leather. The only color came from his gear and large, swooping blonde hair. It reminded Hikari of a cockatoo's head. _That's… that's Present Mic!_

Despite his enthusiasm, though, no one responded to his greeting. It seemed that everyone was either too nervous or too confused to bother responding. In Hikari's case, it was both.

"Keeping it mellow, huh?" Present Mic shrugged nonchalantly, as if it was a totally normal response. "That's fine, I'll skip to the main choke. Let's talk about how this practical exam is going to go down, okay? Are you ready?!" Once again, his energetic question was met with an empty silence.

_C'mon, I wanna get to fight! That's what I'm here for! _Hikari screamed in her head, clenching her fists over her knees. Her body trembled with impatience and excitement. It felt like it was on fire.

"Like your application said, today you rocking boys and girls will be out there conducting ten minute mock battles in super hip urban settings!" he explained loudly. Suddenly the screen behind him changed to show a multicolored diagram with English letters on each box.

"Here's the plan, my friends: after I drop the mic, you'll enter your specified battle zones! Sound good?!" Again, the audience was silent, although this question was more rhetorical than the others.

Hikari leaned over to look at Ochako's paper. "Looks like we won't be in the same area," she commented. She was to be tested in Arena E while her friend was assigned in Arena B

Ochako sighed. "Yeah, too bad, though. I was hoping we could team up." She stuck out her lower lip, comically making a pouty face.

She patted her friend's shoulder. "Do your best! We're gonna get in this together, I promise!" Her encouragement was all Ochako needed; she nodded eagerly and the two girls faced forward, their spirits renewed with determination.

"Okay, okay, let's check out your targets!" he continued. The screen changed again to a picture of the urban buildings and three black silhouettes with number values. "There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely! Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a guitar solo!" As he spoke, a little 8-bit animation video played on the screen. Robot-monsters were being destroyed by Present Mic's character. _Kinda like in a video game _Hikari hummed to herself.

He pointed a finger to the audience and added, "But check it! Make sure you're keeping things heroic; attacking other examinees is a U.A no-no, ya dig?"

Suddenly a tall, indigo-haired student in front of Hikari shot up with his hand raised. "Excuse me, sir, but I have a question." Present Mic pointed at him to let him continue.

With a spotlight on him, he pointed to the diagram of the robots on his pamphlet and stated, "On the printout, you've listed four types of villains, not three. With all respect, if this is an error on official U.A materials, it is shameful. "

"Well, _someone's_ an uptight nerd. Just who does this guy think he is?" Hikari muttered sarcastically to Ochako. The anti-gravity girl had her hands over her mouth, trying not to burst out in laughter.

"Alright, alright, Examinee #7111, thanks for calling in with your request," Present Mic said, drawing everyone's attention back to the front. "The fourth villain type is worth _zero points!_" A fourth silhouette appeared on the screen, a large _0P _over the picture.

"That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Just think of it as a hurdle to try and avoid." As he explained, the 8-bit animation continued. The little character was running away from the zero-point robot in a panic. " It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's… kinda no point. I recommend my listeners to try and ignore it and focus on at the top of the charts!"

The boy that interrupted the presentation bowed politely at the waist, satisfied with his answer. "Thank you very much, please continue."

_So, that's all there is, huh. Just destroy the robots and get points. Easy peasy. _Hikari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _Easy peasy._

Finally, Present Mic came to the end of his presentation. "That's all I got for you today. I'll sign off with a little present: a sample of our school motto! As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes!'

"You ready to go beyond? Let's hear a PLUS ULTRA!" Once again, to no one's surprise, total silence. "Good luck!"

Hikari turned to Ochako. "You ready? Let's get into the Hero Course together!"

/

Hikari walked over to Arena E in a magenta tracksuit and a white ribbon in her hair. She began to stretch her arms upwards as she walked forward. _So this is it, huh? Such a big urban area. I've worked so hard to get here and now I'm standing at the gate, ready to take the exam-_

_Whump!_

"Gh-! Sorry!" she apologized immediately. As she rubbed her nose, her gaze peered upwards to find the same tired looking boy that had chastised her at the presentation. "Ah, it's you!" she gasped.

"Hm? Yeah, it's me," he answered absentmindedly, his voice lacking the same malice from before. His eyes flitted to her and then back to the looming doors in front of them. The boy continuously wringed his neck with his right hand. His eyebrows were furrowed together and Hikari could see his teeth clenching in his jaw.

"Hey, are you… nervous?" Hikari asked carefully. The lavender-haired boy uncertainly glanced at her again before answering, "Yeah, you could say that."

She punched his arm, ruining the gloomy atmosphere. It caught him off guard, but it shocked him enough out of nervousness. "Ghk-! What the hell was that for?!" he angrily squawked.

"Don't be; your nerves will eat you alive," Hikari laughed, "That's what my dad tells me anyway. What's your name anyway?"

"...Hitoshi Shinsou," he muttered, rubbing his arm.

"Cool, I'm Hikari Hinata! I'm gonna be in the Hero Course." She jabbed a thumb at herself. "Or at least, that's what I'm aiming for." He hummed in response. "Me too," he mumbled, although Hikari couldn't quite catch it; the girl had gone quiet and ended up fiddling with her hair ribbon.

_To be honest, I'm nervous too. I don't even know if I'll make it. My quirk isn't that great at all for offense. Just pure defense. I don't know how to apply it for fighting purposes, and-_

A jab of a finger pulled her out of her thoughts. "Hey, I thought you said that to not be nervous?" Hikari's teal eyes met Shinsou's lavender eyes. His mouth was twisted upwards in an attempt of a smile. It looked like it didn't happen that much.

Hikari began to giggle before she could stop herself. "My own words used against me. How cruel of you, Shinsou."

As they both relaxed and laughed, a loud, obnoxious voice shouted, "Right, let's start!" Confused, the examinees looked up at the direction of the voice. It was Present Mic once again.

"Get moving!" he shouts from the top of the tower, "There are no countdowns in real battles! Run run run, listeners! You're wasting your time here!"

Immediately Hikari follows the stampede of a crowd. She quickly glances behind her to see Shinsou following suit and waves at him. "Well, good luck, I'll see you later!" With that, she dashes forward and takes a right.

* * *

**A/N: You can tell I used the dub to write this, huh? I'm excited for plot progression! I don't want to make things shippy just yet, though. We're just establishing relations for secret future purposes! Anyways, I'll leave you guys with a fun fact: Hikari's name was originally going to be Hitomi Maeda! After major consideration, I realized that names are important for quirks so I changed it. Thanks for reading!**


	4. IV - Aftermath

Once Hikari rushed into the street to her right, she realized that no one else was here with her. Except for a large 3-pointer dead ahead of her.

_Nice! _Immediately her wrists glowed alive, two shields forming. She launched them at the robot and it neatly sliced it to pieces.

_'Yes, three points for me! Gotta go find more!'_ She ran back onto the main street to find more robots. As she tied her jacket around her waist, she scanned the area. The debris of the robots littered the fake urban city. Examinees were destroying them left and right. Finding nothing, she took a left and found herself face-to-face with more robots.

Three 2-pointers! One 1-pointer! Four 3-pointers! '_And they're all mine!'_

A single shield went through the 1-pointer robot and two 2-pointers. Hikari was about to go for another one when a shadow obscured the light above her. As she looked up to meet a chunk of a robot arm, something wrapped around her waist and yanked her out of the way.

The arm crashed into the ground somewhere near Hikari, but she was busy recovering from the near whiplash her body went through. When her vision cleared, her eyes met a piercing red stare and… a shadowy bird? With glowing eyes?

"Hey, hey! You okay, miss?" the bird squawked. Hikari nodded mutely, still in shock. The boy next to the bird exhaled a small sigh of relief.

"Good, I'm glad," the boy muttered gratefully. He gently lifted Hikari off of the ground and asked quietly, "Can you walk?" It was then Hikari realized that they were inside what looked like a fake parking garage. It was dark, too.

"Yeah, I think I can, thank you," she quietly answered. Hikari cleared her throat and asked the boy, "Is that your quirk? The bird, I mean." '_No duh it's the bird, Hikari! Why are you even asking that question?!'_

"Yep, I am! I'm Dark Shadow!" the bird, Dark Shadow, boasted loudly. Its chest, if it had one, puffed up in pride.

"Ah, well, thank you again, Dark Shadow," Hikari awkwardly thanked again. Before the boy could say anything, though, Present Mic's shrill voice boomed across the faux-city. "Eight minutes and ten seconds, listeners! Keep it up!"

The boy stepped into the light, and it took Hikari by shock when his figure revealed to have a bird head. It was black and presumably fluffy with feathers and even a beak.

"May we meet again, I suppose," the boy mumbled quietly. Dark Shadow comically saluted Hikari and lifted the boy up and away.

"Huh. Well, that's something that you don't see everyday," mumbled Hikari after watching him almost fly away. The noise of destruction and voices from the examinees finally brought her out of her shock. "Well, let's get back to it!"

/

Only three minutes were left, and in that time Hikari brought her robot body count to 34. Not bad, but with the three minutes left, there were more robots to be destroyed.

As she ran through the streets to find more targets, something ahead of the street caught her eye: an examinee was busy destroying a robot, but she appeared to be oblivious to the trajectory path of a sheet of metal... _and it was coming straight for her. _

"Hey…! Watch out!" Hikari suddenly found herself running forward and putting herself between the examinee and the flying debris. In a flash, a bubble encased Hikari and the examinee, just in time for the debris to ricochet off of the bubble and land next to them.

"I've… I've never been able to do that before," she whispered softly to herself. "W-what the…"

"Oh my gosh, thank you! I didn't even see that coming! Who knows what would've happened to me!" the girl rambled as she hugged Hikari. The tealette returned the hug, but she was still reeling in shock from the last few seconds.

Hikari looked down at the girl. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked, pulling away from the hug. As she looked closer, she realized that the girl was smaller than her and had black hair with white streaks styled in twin buns and matching black eyes. Her eyes were narrow and as black as a pair of onyx gemstones.

"Yep, thanks to you!"

"AND THAT'S IT, FOLKS! TIIIIIME'S UP!" A siren blared across the city, signaling the end of the exam.

Shocked by the sudden announcement, Hikari found herself releasing them both from the bubble. '_So that means… only 34 points.'_

/

The rest of the day was a blurry haze for Hikari. She forgot to meet up with Ochako after the exam as they promised and instead slowly walked home. She didn't bother to check her phone for texts either.

Now she was holed up in her room, waiting for her results to be delivered by mail.

"Hikari, hon? It's been a while since you've been out of your room, do you want to talk about the exam?" It was her father, Mamoru Hinata.

He pushed the door open to find his daughter in the dark and wrapped up in a blanket. Plastic wrappings and bottles littered the bed and floor. The only source of light was the eerie glow from Hikari's laptop. He squeaked in surprise; his daughter looked like a ghost!

When Hikari shifted her glance from the laptop to her father in slow motion, it only terrified the man even more! Her eyes sunken in and her mouth drawn in a thin line! Was he imagining it, or did she already have wrinkles on her face?!

Steeling himself, Mamoru stormed in and drew back the dark curtains. Sunlight suddenly filled the room, and Hikari hissed like an irritated cat, failing to shield her eyes from the light in time.

"Hikari, you can't stay here forever! You need sunlight! Your quirk is dependent on it, otherwise you'll get sick!" scolded her father. Hikari, though, wrapped herself further into her blanket and rolled to her side, muttering something unintelligible.

"Don't you want to see your results?" Peeking through the folds of the blanket, it took Hikari a moment to realize that her father was holding an envelope with the red U.A seal. To Mamoru's surprise, she turned away.

"I'm… I'm scared."

Hikari shifted to a sitting position and squeezed her eyes shut. "I've always wanted to be a hero since I was a kid and I know that's what I told mom and I want to honor her, but what if I didn't make it? What if someone beat me and got a better score and I have to go to another school or—"

Instantly, she could feel the bed sink and warmth growing around her. "Sweetie, it's going to be alright. No matter what, if you don't make it, I will always be proud of you, and I know _she_ is too."

There was silence as she mulled over his words. "Thanks, dad," Hikari finally sniffed, a tear escaping her eye. Carefully, she finally plucked the envelope from her father's hand and gently tore it open. A metallic disk fell onto the bed and immediately lit up, displaying a hologram into the air.

"Hey, hey, female listener! I'm here to tell you about your results, so listen up!" Present Mic loudly greeted with a giant grin. Hikari glanced at her dad, who was just as intently focused on the hologram. She quickly looked back at the screen, wide-eyed and attentive.

"The written portion! You passed with flying colors, in the top 20th percentile! Be proud, young listener, you're the best of the best! The cream of the crop! " Hikari could feel a grin growing on her face.

"For the physical exam, you earned 34 villain points! Not bad, but with that amazing rescue of a fellow examinee, you earned another 30 rescue points! You heard correctly, 30 rescue points! That's what a hero is all about, ya know!" As he spoke, a replay of Hikari creating the bubble shield in front of the girl played from various camera angles.

_'Villain points…? Rescue points…? There was more to it than destroying robots?'_

"That girl was incredibly lucky, she even came by our offices to show her thanks!" A still picture of the girl switched onto the screen, bowing fervently over and over again. "In other words, listener, congrats! With 64 points, you made it! Welcome to U.A's Hero Course!"

"I… made it." '_I made it!' _Hikari rushed to find her phone. '_I gotta tell Ochako!'_ Once she spotted the black and gold casing, she pounced at it and dialed her friend's number.

"Ochako, I'm so sorry for ghosting you but I— Wha—? for real? No way, congrats me too!"

Hikari erupted in shrieks, scaring her father and attracting Maru to her room. The small apartment filled with loud shouts and shrieks throughout the night, celebrating her accomplishment.

* * *

**A/N: Yo, Hikari is a whole mood she has such a flair for the dramatic lmao. I had fun writing the mopey part of this chapter, not gonna lie. Fun fact for this chapter: Hikari was originally going to be an orphan and raise her sister, Maru, by herself. As I was going along, though, it wasn't working, so I decided to add Mamoru. Anyways, thanks for reading! **


	5. V - First Day at UA

Hikari cautiously peered into room 1-A. She wore the U.A. uniform: a gray blazer, a red tie, and an emerald green skirt. She personalized the look with white Mary Janes and black stockings. Her hair had grown longer as well, just barely reaching mid back and a purple ribbon tied close to her left ear.

This feels so different from my middle school uniform, Hikari thought to herself, slowly scanning the room to scope out her future classmates and a seat to sit in when suddenly-

"If ya aren't gonna move from the fucking doorway then get the fuck outta the way, extra," a gruff voice grumbled from behind Hikari. Huh? Extra?

She turned around to find a boy with spiky, ash blond hair in a wrinkled uniform and baggy pants with no tie in sight. She pursed her lips together in distaste. He definitely looks like the troublemaker type.

"That is no way to speak to your classmate, apologize immediately!" another boy barked. Hikari whipped her head around and saw a boy with an indigo undercut and rectangular glasses. It's him, from the orientation! Immediately he marched to the front of the classroom, sandwiching Hikari between him and the aggressive boy behind her as they began to argue.

This guy doesn't know personal space, does he? she thought, face burning up. "I'll just, uh, move out of the way, now..." she muttered under her breath, leaving the other two in a shouting match.

Hikari zoomed quickly to a seat in the back, not really considering its location, just as long as it got her away from the two.

"Those two won't even pass this class if they clash forces like that," mumbled a voice from beside her. She turned to find the source of the voice and found a boy with a bird head. She jumped in surprise, recognizing him from the physical exam.

Then another voice chimed in. "I especially don't trust the boy that was behind her," a girl with a spiky, black ponytail agreed, pointing a finger at Hikari.

"Well, I'm just glad that I didn't get too caught up in that mess," laughed Hikari awkwardly, scratching her head.

"I do not believe that we have formally met," said the bird-headed boy, "My name is Fumikage Tokoyami, a pleasure." He nodded lightly with his eyes closed.

Hikari grinned. "Hikari Hinata. A pleasure as well, Tokoyami." She turned to the girl behind her. "What about you?"

The girl jumped slightly in surprise but quickly recovered, the composed expression returning to her face. "Oh, I'm Momo Yaoyorozu." She looks pretty and smart... I hope that we can be friends.

The three chatted among themselves as the classroom filled up with more students. Some, Hikari could tell, were either very nervous, fiddling with their fingers and other items. and others bursting with excitement, shaky grins on their faces. Something else that she quickly noted was that there were more boys than girls. Finally, only two seats were left empty. I wonder where Ochako can be...

"It's him." Who?

Unanimously, everyone turned to find a green-haired boy standing nervously at the door. He's kinda plain looking… wait a minute…! That's the boy that Ochako saved, right before the practical exam! Hikari saw the indigo haired boy that scolded the troublemaker that was behind her walk towards the boy. "My name is Tenya Iida," she heard him say as the newcomer began to freak out.

"What's their deal?" she muttered to herself, tilting her head in curiosity. "He was the one that beat the zero-point robot at the cost of breaking his arm and legs," Tokoyami informed her. Holy shi- What?!

"He hurt himself with his quirk? I wonder why he'd be placed here, then," Momo commented, her head resting on her left fist. Hikari nodded and her mind wandered off until she heard a familiar voice ring ask, "What do you think we'll be doing today?" Huh?

At the door Hikari saw that behind the now blushing newcomer was her friend Ochako, yammering away. Hikari immediately sprang out of her seat. "Ochako!"

"Do not run inside the classroom! You could trip and fall!" the strict, blue-haired boy scolded her but she paid no attention. "Ochako, you're finally here and-"

"If you're just here to talk to your friends then you can pack your stuff now," a bored, monotone voice came from behind. Everyone paused to find the source of the voice. Then the newcomer gasped and everyone's eyes turned to stare at a man in a yellow sleeping bag, laying on the ground. "Welcome to U.A.'s Hero Course," the man said as he unzipped the sleeping bag to suck on a pouch of... something. What is that thing?! Hinata thought, slightly horrified as to who the man could be.

"It took eight seconds before you to shut up; that's not gonna work," he continued. He fully unzipped the sleeping bag and stepped out of it. "Time is precious. Rational students understand that." Who on Earth is this guy?

The man faced the class. "Hello I'm Shouta Aizawa, your teacher," he droned. His introduction was met with silence. "Right, let's get to it." He reached into the bag and pulled out a blue cloth. "Put these on and get outside."

/

"What? A quirk assessment test?"

"But orientation! We're gonna miss it!" exclaimed Ochako.

"If you really wanna make the big leagues, you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies," Aizawa stated, his back turned to the class, who were now clad in blue U.A. gym uniforms.

He continued, "Here at U.A., we're not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit." Hikari's eyebrows furrowed and she grit her teeth. Man, this teacher is hardcore! He's nothing like the other teachers I've had before!

"You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives, but you've never gotten to use your quirks on physical exams before." At this he held up a smart phone, listing all the physical tests that students have had to do throughout the years in school, including the 50 meter dash and the long jump. "The country's still trying to pretend that we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day the Ministry of Education will learn." Aizawa turned to face the spiky-haired, ash blond kid. "Bakugou, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam. What was your farthest distance throw with the softball when you were in junior high?"

"67 meters, I think," the newly dubbed Bakugou grumbled.

"Right. Try doing it with your quirk," Aizawa instructed, "Anything goes, just stay in the circle."

Bakugou stepped towards the circle and snatched the ball from his outstretched hand. "Go on, you're wasting our time," called the teacher.

"Alright, man, you asked for it," Bakugou replied, stretching his arms. Asked for it? What does he mean by-

"DIE!" The ball flew upwards in a massive, fiery explosion, almost disappearing in the sky. Did he just say die? Hikari thought as she covered her face from the sudden explosion and wind that blew her teal hair.

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities. It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero." He faced the phone to the students, showing a score of...

"705 meters, are you kidding me?"

"I wanna go, it looks like fun!"

"This is what I'm talking about, using our quirks as much as we want!"

Hikari grinned, becoming excited for the physical tests. It'll be a total breeze! The students were quickly getting pumped when the atmosphere turned tense once again.

"... So this looks fun, huh?" The class turned quiet as quickly as it got noisy. "You've got three years to turn into pro heroes. You think it's gonna be all games and playtime?" A beat and a pause. "Idiots." Aizawa grinned, and it wasn't a merciful one. "Today you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes last will have none and be expelled immediately."

"HUH?!"

* * *

**A/N: Didn't expect an update today, did ya? With the COVID-19 going on, I can update this fic more frequently (idk if that's good or bad, whoops)! Thursdays will definitely have updates, but expect new chapters on other days of the week, so be on the lookout for them. Anyways, thanks for reading!**


	6. VI - A Quirk Assessment

A quirk assessment? With expulsion for the person in last place? This has got to be a joke! Hikari gritted her teeth. This didn't sound too good. "Heh, you kid, right, teach?" she asked nervously, raising a finger.

Aizawa flashed a grim look at her. "I wouldn't joke about expulsion," he deadpanned.

Hikari's eyes widened. "Right! Sorry!"

The black-haired teacher turned to the class. "Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs. Understand? If you've got a problem, then you can head home right now."

Ochako stepped forward and protested, "You can't send us home! I mean, we just got here! Even if it's the first day, that isn't fair!"

Hikari grabbed a hold of Ochako's shoulder. "He totally can, dude, keep it down!" she hissed through her teeth. If their teacher was capable of expulsion at a whim then who knew what he'd do to her friend if she protested against his words.

"Oh, and you think natural disasters aren't?" The class recoiled at his response. "Or power-hungry villains, hm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No; the world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a pro, you're gonna have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years U.A. will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond, plus ultra style." He lifted his hair out of his face. "Show me it's no mistake that you're here."

This teacher is definitely hardcore! I gotta do my best on these tests, even if he's a little crazy, but that's what I have to do to be a hero, right? Hikari balled her hands into fists and clenched her jaw. Let's do it!

/

The 50-Meter Dash

My quirk won't be of any use in running… unless…

Hikari took a deep breath and swung her right arm windmill style. Alongside her was a thin, bony boy with black hair, stretching his arms and legs. What was most notable about him were his elbows; they were round and jaunty. I wonder what his quirk is... To her left was a girl with pink skin, curly, yellow horns and fluffy pink hair. What surprised Hikari the most were her eyes. Black with gold irises, she noted.

She shook her head. No time to be staring, HIkari! Concentrate! Hikari took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Gradually, her arms began to glow a soft light. She could hear the surprised murmurs of her new classmates, but she ignored them. In her hands a large, golden shield was formed. Hikari tested its durability before setting it on the soft dirt. It was perfect, sturdy enough to support her weight.

It never hurts to try! To be quite honest, Hikari had only used this trick once in her life, and it had nearly resulted in a trip to the emergency room.

"Runners, on your marks, ready... Go!"

Immediately the pink girl dashed forward, grey liquid oozing out of her feet and onto Hikari's side of the track. Hikari, surprised, decided to use this to her advantage. The slime would make her makeshift toboggan slide easier. She ran forward and slammed the shield and herself onto the ground, launching herself forward. The boy followed in a mad dash.

Her idea worked; she was sliding in the slime in the same way she had seen American children do it on TV on snowy winter days.

"5.38 seconds!" The machine cried. The pink girl had crossed first, and soon after, Hikari and the black haired kid crossed the finish line. "5.49 seconds! 6.89 seconds!"

"Whoo… what a ride," Hikari panted, rising from the ground. She brushed off the dirt and slime from her gym uniform.

"Woah, what was that? That was totally cool!" the pink girl exclaimed excitedly, practically bouncing on her toes.

Hikari brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before breathlessly replying, "That… was my quirk."

Hikari Hinata - Quirk: Solar Shield

By absorbing sunlight through her body, Hikari is able to create shields that can protect herself from any oncoming danger!

/

Despite her stellar performance, the other tests were not in Hikari's favor. Her quirk proved to be a hit or miss in a few of the other tests. Grip strength? Average. Standing long jump? Hikari had barely managed to make it in front of the robot.

The only test that her quirk helped in were the repeated side steps. She had set up two shields on each side of her on the side, but it made little difference in her score.

I hope I'm not the one that's gonna go home. All of my hard work down the drain!

Now it was time for the ball throw, and Hikari was watching Ochako take her turn. She had activated her anti-gravity quirk on it and let it float upwards. After a few moments of waiting Aizawa's smartphone showed an infinity symbol on it.

"Infinity?!"

"Yeah, that's my girl!" Hikari cheered, jumping up and down with her arms up. She could feel a few confused stares on her, but she didn't care. Meanwhile, others were in various states of disbelief and shock, commenting on her friend's impossible score.

"You're definitely not the one going home, Ochako," Hikari smiled to her friend as she walked to the circle, grabbing a spare ball as she went.

"I hope so, otherwise it would've been for nothing," Ochako exhaled as she walked back to where the other students stood.

Once inside the circle, Hikari clasped the ball in her hand and took a deep breath. This is my last shot. I better make it count!

Once again, Hikari's forearms glowed with light. As the shield was materializing, though, she placed the ball in the middle of the shield just as it hardened. An improvised discus!

Hikari twirled in place and with enough momentum, she let go of the discus, and it flew a distance of… 22 meters. Hikari paled as she saw the score. Oh, that's not that far. Bonus points for creativity?

She staggered back next to Ochako, who was already fanning her in the face to make sure she was still alive. Only when the boy with the glasses and the indigo undercut (Tenya Iida was his name, as Hikari learned earlier) commented, "If Midoriya doesn't shape up soon, he's the one going home." did Hikari finally snap out of her trance. Midoriya? The green-haired boy? He also hasn't been doing well either, huh. She recalled seeing his average scores and his increasingly visible worry etched on his face.

"Huh? Of course he is, he's a quirkless loser!" Bakugou sneered rudely at Iida.

"Well, if he's quirkless, then how come he's made it this far?" Hikari challenged. She stepped closer to Bakugou. "He wouldn't be here otherwise, McSplodeypants."

"HUH?! WHAT'D YOU CALL ME, SUNSHINE BITCH?!"

"That sounds an awful lot like a pet name, y'know!"

Their bickering loudly continued for a while, with Iida and Ochako having to restrain Bakugou and Hikari before there was a full on brawl. It looked like there was going to be one, until Aizawa's stern, monotone voice said, "I erased your quirk."

In front of Class 1-A stood their teacher, but with his black hair and grey scarf hovering in the air. He looked like he was ready to strike at any moment. H-How is he doing that?!

"The judges for this exam," he continued, "were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school." The class was shocked silent at his bold, blunt statement... until Midoriya drew back in surprise.

"Those goggles… I know you!" the greenette realized. "You can look at someone and cancel out their powers... the Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!"

Eraserhead… now why does that sound so- oh! Hikari remembered her father bringing home some paperwork from the hero agency he worked at. She would look over the papers out of curiosity from time to time and see many hero names, Eraserhead being just one of the many. She brought a fist to her chin. I don't know that much about him, though.

Her classmates were just as confused as she was. "I think he works on the down-low," mused the frog girl behind Hikari.

The one-sided conversation was too quiet for Hikari to hear, but whatever Aizawa told Midoriya, it definitely wasn't pleasant, judging by Midoriya's stunned expression. He even wrapped one part of the floating scarf and jerked the boy close to him.

Finally, the hair and scarf ceased from floating and released Midoriya from his grip. "I returned your impractical quirk. Take your final throw. Hurry up and get it over with," the teacher told him.

"I wonder if our teacher gave him some advice," Iida muttered as Bakugou thought of the worst and predicted that he "told him to start packing." Hikari could feel a palm on her shoulder, but she chose to ignore it and instead focused on Midoriya, who stood still in the circle with the ball in his palm.

Finally, finally, he reeled back his arm and leaned forward. Hikari could've sworn that she saw a light from the tip of his finger, but the ball went up with a gust of wind and she didn't have time to dwell on it. She followed the ball's trajectory until it hurt to look at the sky. Damn, that's impressive!

* * *

**A/N: Fun fact for this chapter: Hikari's original quirk was called See-Through. It let her be able to look through solid objects (walls, doors, etc.). It wasn't very useful (i.e difficult to write), so I changed it to a different quirk called Bubble Shield, where the oils on her arms would allow her to create shields that would protect her. I still wasn't satisfied, but I really liked the idea of a quirk that would mean finding new ways to adapt to fighting, so Solar Shield was born! Thanks for reading!**


	7. VII - A Quirk Assessment Plus Results

Class 1-A was in amazement at Midoriya's throw. Hikari could hear Ochako's cheer and agreed with her sentiment. _He's shown nothing about his power until now, and it even broke his finger. _She shifted her glance to her right and smirked. Bakugou stood with his jaw practically on the floor.

"What's wrong, ya scowly bastard? Scared that he beat your score?" teased Hikari with a coy smile, but Bakugou didn't seem to care about the nickname or the taunt.

"I should've seen his quirk years ago," he growled. "I'm getting to the bottom of this." His palms exploded and he dashed forward as he bellowed, "HEY! DEKU YOU BASTARD, TELL ME HOW YOU DID THAT OR YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Holy shit, this guy's _furious!_" Hikari exclaimed, surprised. It was apparent from the start that the ash blond was a grumpy, temperamental guy, but this was a new extreme. It looked like Bakugou was going to follow through with his threat until one end of Aizawa's scarf flew through the air and restrained him. "What? W-Why the hell is your damn scarf s-so strong?" the ash blond grunted as he strained through the strength of the scarf.

"'Cause it's a capture weapon made out of carbon fibers and a special metal alloy," their teacher explained, his hair floating upwards as his quirk was activated. "Stand down. It'd be wise to avoid making me avoid using my quirk so much. It gives me serious dry eye."

_Too bad, that power is amazing! _Hikari winced as she looked onward.

The hair and scarf settled back down, releasing Bakugou from its grip. "You're wasting my time now. Whoever's next can step up."

/

After Midoriya's home-run throw and Bakugou's explosive reaction, the tests continued. Hikari's quirk did little to improve her scores in the sit-ups, seated toe-touch, and the long-distance run, but they were a little better thanks to her training with Ochako.

Finally, _finally, _it was time to see the results. "I've ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already," Aizawa said, holding a little device in his hands. "I'll just pull up the whole list. It's not worth going over each individual score."

_It's time. I definitely won't be the one being expelled… right?_

Aizawa projected the tier list into the air. From one to twenty, everyone's name was on the list. Hikari craned her neck, scanning the list for her name.

_16\. Hikari Hinata_

A rush of relief flooded over her as she exhaled, not realizing that she was holding her breath. _Phew, I'm safe. Not the best, but not the worst. Wait, but that means- _Hikari looked over to Midoriya's stricken face, showing great despair. _Oh no, poor dude._

"Aaand I was lying. No one's going home."

_Huh?_

Hikari and the rest of the class were in a catatonic shock, mouths agape and eyes wide as they looked at their teacher.

"That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests." A creepy smile grew on Aizawa's face, daring to look pleased as he explained his ruse.

"WHHHAAAAATTT?!" Hikari shrieked in disbelief. It looked like she wasn't the only one. Midoriya, Ochako, and Iida also screamed out in confusion.

"I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure that out," Yaoyorozu commented, "I'm sorry, I guess I should've said something."

_Yeah, you should have_, Hikari thought bitterly. All the stress of being expelled for nothing! She had to admit, begrudgingly, it _did_ give her motivation to do her best.

"That's it, we're done for the day," concluded Aizawa as he walked away. "Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning." He gave Midoriya a note to see the nurse with the promise of training the next day.

/

Hikari slung her purple bag over her shoulder. The tests left her body exhausted, and she was more than ready to go home, even if it meant going at a snail's pace.

She was in the middle of adjusting her hair ribbon when she felt a yank on her elbow. "Hikari, c'mon, let's go!" a cheery voice cried. Hikari instantly identified it as Ochako. She felt herself being dragged through students in the halls, their confused faces turning into blurs as they went further down the hall. _So much for going at a snail's pace. How does this girl still have energy?_

They reached the front gate, and Ochako called out, "Heeyyy! Wait up, you two! Are you going to the station? We'll join you guys!" _Who is she talking to?_

When her vision refocused, she found herself staring at Iida and Midoriya, who had stopped for them. "Oh, you're the infinity girl, and you're the girl that used a shield as a toboggan," Iida commented to them.

"I'm Ochako Uraraka," her friend said. The brunette nudged Hikari, saying, "C'mon, it's your turn. These are the guys that were in my testing arena."

"Hold on, let me balance myself, Ochako," Hikari giggled. She straightened her posture and cleared her throat. "I'm Hikari Hinata, nice to formally meet."

"Let's see, you're Tenya Iida," Ochako continued, looking at the taller boy (Hikari cringes as she remembers making fun of him at the orientation before the exam) and her gaze shifted to the greenette as she said, "and your name is 'Deku', right? Midoriya?"

"D-Deku?!"

"Uh, yeah, isn't that what Bakugou called you?" she questioned, "During the fitness test, he said-"

"DEKU, YOU BASTARD!" Hikari snarled suddenly, lowering her voice to match the explosive boy. She even curled her hand the same way Bakugou did when he released an explosion from his palm. Panic shot through Midoriya's heart. It was exactly the way he did it! "Wait a minute, doesn't 'Deku' mean 'useless person' or something?" Hikari realized, relaxing from her imitation. "That's pretty harsh, he's gotta hate you or something."

Bombarded by the girls' questions (and still freaked out by Hikari), Midoriya gesticulated as he stuttered, "Uh, well, my name's actually Izuku. Deku is what Kaachan calls me to make fun of me."

"That sounds unsportsmanlike," Iida muttered. Hikari blinked in confusion. "Yeah, he definitely hates you. Sorry for calling you that, even if I was imitating Mr. Snap, Crack, and Pop," she apologized, fiddling with a strand of teal hair in embarrassment. "You're gonna need a new nickname."

Ochako suppressed a giggle. "Mr. Snap, Crack and Pop, that's hilarious, Hikari!"

"Are you two friends, by chance? You keep referring to each other by your first names," Iida wondered out loud.

The two nodded in response and Hikari slung an arm over Ochako's shoulder. "Yep, been friends since middle school," she answered proudly, "We promised each other that we'd go to U.A and become heroes together!"

"That's amazing!" breathed Midoriya and he turned to face Hikari. "I remember you from the exam! You were with Uraraka when she stopped my fall! And your quirk is amazing, too!"

Embarrassed by the sudden praise, Hikari's fiddling grew faster and her face got warm. "Aw, man, it's nothing, really. It's-It's just my quirk, nothing special!"

"No, seriously, it's amazing! It's the perfect defense quirk, and there's so many ways you can apply it for offense too!"

"You're-You're just saying things!" Hikari shook her head and cleared her throat. "Nevermind that. So you're the kid that beat the 0-point robot and nearly destroyed your entire body for it?"

Now it was Midoriya's turn to blush. "Ah, um, yeah, so I guess word got around about me, huh?"

"Well, it would make sense. Several people witnessed that, and it was at the end of the exam, too, when you defeated it," Iida explained.

"Man, if only I got put in your guy's arena, I could have seen it too," pouted Hikari, puffing out her cheeks comically.

Their talk continued as they reached the station. Midoriya and Iida parted ways from the two girls.

"Well, what do you think of them, Ochako? I think they're gonna be great friends," smiled Hikari.

* * *

**A/N: Not much to say here, I guess. I don't want to limit myself to writing as few pages as possible but I also don't want to write too much in one chap. I'll do my best to add in Hikari as much as possible and dedicate chapters to her development. **

**In case you haven't noticed, though, M*neta isn't in this fic at all. Why, you may ask? Simply put, I don't like him. To me, he doesn't serve any purpose to the plot and his *ahem* advances towards female characters makes me extremely uncomfortable. By subtracting M*neta and adding Hikari, the class remains an even 20. If you don't agree with it, then sorry. *shrugs***

**Fun fact of the chapter: Hikari's hairstyle was originally going to be a cute bob cut with bangs covering her eyes as a nod to her (old) quirk. The only thing that didn't change was the color of her hair: teal. It just stuck throughout Hikari's development. Anyways, thanks for reading**


	8. VIII - Hero Costumes!

Despite U.A being a hero school, there were regular classes such as history and mathematics. Even then, they were taught by pro heroes, which sort of confused Hikari. Nonetheless, she managed to keep her grades above average, excelling only in English, which excited Present Mic in particular. She mentally thanked her father and his work as one of the many secretaries at the International Hero Agency. Lunch wasn't that bad either, thanks to the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush. Everything was fine and normal like any other high school, until it was finally time for Hero Basic Training in the afternoon, which was taught by none other than…

"I AM HERE, COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE HERO!"

"Whoa!"

"I really can't believe it, it's really him!"

"So he _is_ a teacher! This year's gonna be totally awesome!"

"Hey, look! Isn't he wearing his Silver Age costume?"

Yes, it was none other than the Symbol of Peace himself: All Might. Although he wasn't Hikari's _favorite_ favorite hero (there were plenty of others that she admired), she couldn't suppress the feeling of hope that soared through her heart. He was, after all, the most powerful person in Japan, perhaps even in the world!

"Welcome to the most important class at U.A high! Think of it as Heroing 101! Here, you will learn the basics of being a pro and what it means to fight in the name of good!" All Might proudly announced. '_He's definitely in his element,' _thought Hikari, raising an eyebrow in amusement at his over-the-top presentation.

"Right, let's get into it!" He pulled out a card that had 'BATTLE' written on it. "Today's lesson, we'll pull no punches! But one of the keys of being a hero is… looking good!" At his command, the left wall of the classroom revealed four shelves with gray suitcases and green numbers on them. "These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms and the requests you sent in before school started."

Hikari could feel her heart pound with excitement as she remembered what she requested on her form. '"_Sleeveless, star-themed, light-weight." I don't know what my costume will look like, but I hope it's good!'_

/

"Wow, Hikari! Your costume looks so pretty!" Ochako gushed to her friend.

Hikari made her way to where Ochako and Midoriya were standing as she admired herself from head to toe. She wore a dark blue cape-like cloth over a white, sleeveless leotard. It was held together by a four-pointed star on top of her chest. On her feet were simple gladiator sandals that went just above her ankles. She had plenty of golden jewelry as well, such as the star headband and earrings, and a choker and the bands on her wrists.

The tealette turned to her, a smile on her face. "Thanks, Ochako! I like yours as well!" She looked around her, looking at everyone's new attire. They ranged from colorful to intimidating, perfectly representing the kind of person they were and their quirks.

When Class 1-A reached Ground Beta, All Might explained that everyone would be taking part in an indoors rescue mission. By drawing lots, everyone would be partnered up and be assigned a villain or hero. The mission was simple: the villains would protect the nuclear weapon and the heroes would retrieve the weapon. The heroes would win if they were able to touch the weapon, and the villains would win if they could keep the heroes at bay.

/

Team C: Yaoyorozu & Hinata vs. Team G: Jirou & Kaminari

"So… looks like we're a team," Hikari smiled up to Yaoyorozu, to which the taller girl returned.

"Yes, let's do our best," she replied politely, and together they entered the building.

When they had drawn lots, Hikari was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be with her friends, but after seeing Bakugou turn hellbent on beating up Midoriya (not to mention the amount of destruction of the building), she didn't feel so bad. The only thing she felt after the battle was anger towards Bakugou. '_How has Midoriya been dealing with this? And yet he calls him a friend? He's not worthy of that title_—

"Hinata, have you been listening to me?"

Hikari snapped back into reality, slightly taken aback by the use of her surname. They had reached the fifth floor, where they wanted to place the fake bomb. "Um, sorry, what was that?"

Yaoyorozu sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "You must pay better attention. Otherwise Jirou and Kaminari will defeat us both."

"Roger!" Hikari saluted. "What do you have in mind, Yaoyorozu?"

"What is your quirk? Do you mind explaining it to me?"

Hikari blinked. That wasn't quite what she was expecting her to say. "Well, uh, my quirk is called Solar Shield. I can create shields in varying sizes and strengths thanks to the sunlight I get during the day. Right now I'd say I'm pretty charged up."

"I will barricade the door. Even though we don't know anything about their quirks, you will be our first line of defense," the taller girl explained as she began to use her quirk. Metal items began falling out her torso; Hikari respectfully looked away. "I want you to venture out for them and delay them. Should this cause them to split up, we'll battle them one-on-one. Any objections?"

"Nope, I think I got it!" '_So quick to form a plan!'_

"Good, now please step outside as I barricade the door," Yaoyorozu told her. In a flash she was out the door and in the dark labyrinth that was the building. Hikari formed the tiniest shield she could and used it to light up her surroundings as she walked down the stairs.

"HEROES, YOU MAY NOW ENTER THE BUILDING!"

_'Okay, focus, focus. Think of this as the real thing, Hikari. You're a villain, and you're gonna stop the pro heroes from saving the bomb.'_

Determined anew, Hikari swung her arms downwards and created two shields. They stayed over her wrists thanks to the golden bands acting as magnets. She walked down to the second floor and hid around a corner, waiting for the heroes to show up.

Her ears pricked up when she heard Jirou say, "They're on the fifth floor. Let's move." '_How did she know_—'

"Don't worry, we'll get the weapon in no time," boasted Kaminari.

"Just don't screw this up," she sighed, clearly annoyed. "C'mon, let's move." That's when Hikari decided to step out of her hiding spot.

"Hold it, heroes," she commanded in the most intimidating voice she could muster. She held up her fists to show her shields. "Surrender now, and I'll make this as painless as possible."

"Woah, cute girl alert!" exclaimed Kaminari.

Hikari's stance faltered, stunned at his response. "C-Cute…?"

"Not now, Casanova, weapon first," reminded Jirou, unfazed by his outburst. Her earlobes shot forward, earphone jacks attached at the ends. Hikari held out a shield to her face and deflected them.

She grunted as she launched both of her shields. The two of them were barely able to dodge the shields, but were unexpectedly hit in the back by them as they flew back to Hikari's golden band like boomerangs.

"Kaminari, you take her on, I'll go find the weapon!" ordered Jirou as she ran off in the opposite direction.

"Yaoyorozu, I've found the heroes," Hikari reported into the communication device in her ear. "Jirou's coming your way, I'm facing Kaminari right now."

"Good work, try to immobilize him," her voice buzzes through the device. "That way, it'll ensure our win."

"Got it!" Hikari faced Kaminari with her undivided attention. "It should be a piece of cake."

"Don't think I'll go easy on you just cuz you're a cute girl, y'know," the blonde taunted. His palm sparked alive with electricity. "I plan to give it my all too."

"Oh, and can the cute girl do this?" Hikari ran forward and sent the shield flying again, more force behind the throw this time. It hit Kaminari's wrist and stopped the flow of electricity from his hand.

"Strong, I like it," he hissed through his pain. "Let's finish this!"

Electric currents begin to course throughout his body, and Hikari's instinct told her that this was a buildup to something bigger. Quickly, she willed the shields to dissipate and formed an even larger one, one that would stretch from one side of the wall to the other. Once perfectly lodged in place, she jumped and held onto it, just in time for Kaminari to unleash a powerful current of electricity, illuminating the entire floor. Hikari grit her teeth, feeling some shock from electricity. Since she wasn't in its trajectory path, it didn't hurt her as much as it should have, though she could feel her hair stand on end and her eyes water up. After a few seconds, the hallway grew dark and she opened her eyes.

She looked down to see a silly, dopey smile on Kaminari's face with his thumbs up. "Oh, well," she said after a moment of stunned silence, "Didn't expect that." She activated the communication device once again.

"Um, Yaoyorozu, Kaminari's down, how's the situation up there?" she asked as she jumped down carefully from the makeshift ledge. She poked his face to make sure he was still alive.

"Jirou just entered the room, I'm doing what I can to keep her away," Yaoyorozu answered. Hikari could hear the sound of fighting in the background. "Hah! I could use some extra help!"

She nodded quickly, frizzy teal hair bouncing in place. "On my way!" She bolted up the stairs all the way up to the fifth floor. There, Hikari could see the doorway to the room was no longer standing. How Jirou did it, Hikari didn't know. She carefully peeked around the corner and saw that Yaoyorozu was deflecting Jirou's earphones (lobes?) with a metal rod, the weapon on the farside of the room.

_'If she touches it, even with her earphones, then it'll all be over for us! But how?'_ Hikari quickly scanned the room, looking for anything, but all she could see was Yaoyorozu continue to fight Jirou, their fight dancing closer to the weapon. '_We can't afford to lose!'_

Immediately, Hikari burst into the room and ran towards the weapon. Using the last of her solar energy, she created an extra large shield. It covered nearly 3/4 of the weapon. As Hikari held up the shield, she suddenly felt sleepy. Her arms faltered and her vision grew blurry. '_No, I can't fall asleep in a time like this!'_

"Good job, Hinata!" Yaoyorozu shouted from where she was. She swept the rod under Jirou's ankles and caused her to fall. Her earjacks shot towards the Hikari's direction, but the fogginess in her brain caused her to slowly react. She swept the shield to the side to block the earjack just in time. A loud clang echoed in the room. Her other earjack moved forward before halting. A sticky substance shot from Yaoyorozu's palm and covered the end of the earjack and held it onto the ground.

"TIIIIIMES UP! VILLAINS WIN!"

It was over. Hikari and Yaoyorozu won.

_'Oh, that's good,' _was the last thing Hikari thought before she slumped over onto the ground.

* * *

**A/N: Aaaaahhh, I'm not the best at describing action scenes, but I hope that I improve, as this is an action anime. I drew Hikari's hero outfit! I sketched it on paper and scanned it with Autodesk Sketchbook, which is free and available on both iOS and Android! Unfortunately, FF does not let me post pictures in the story aside from the cover, but it is uploaded on the published versions on Quotev and Wattpad. It looks simple for now, but that leaves room for improvements! Also, this is the longest chapter I have written thus far for Her Own Academia. Anyways, thanks for reading!**


	9. IX - Panic! At The Cafeteria

When Hikari awoke, she found herself lying on a white cot. She pushed herself into a sitting position and took a good look at the room once her vision focused. The walls were a stark white, and a white curtain surrounded the periwinkle blue bed Hikari was lying in. The late afternoon sun poured through the window blinds. Hikari closed her eyes and stretched under the sunrays.

"Oh good, dearie, you're awake," said an elderly voice, snapping Hikari out of her thoughts. She looked down to meet a short, old lady with a white lab coat and gray hair tied in a bun with a (hopefully decorative) needle sticking through.

"You were out for a while, but I assume it's because you lacked energy," she continued as she gave Hikari some medication. "I know that you and your quirk require sunlight to function, so I purposely put you on the bed closest to the window. Take these Vitamin D supplements, dearie, and you'll be just fine."

Hikari nodded in affirmation. "Thank you, Miss, uh…"

"Recovery Girl, dearie."

"Thank you very much, Recovery Girl," Hikari continued, "What about Midoriya? Is he okay?"

"Oh, yes, he went back to class not too long ago," Recovery Girl answered. She filled a paper cup with water as she talked. "You and that boy were the only ones that came down to the infirmary. Everyone else finished training soundly with no injuries."

Hikari took the paper cup from the nurse and swallowed the pills. "I'll go back to class now, then. Thank you again." She gently pushed herself off of the bed and slowly walked, testing her balance. Only then did she realize that she was still in her hero costume.

"Your clothes are still in the locker room, don't worry," called Recovery Girl from her office, as if she read Hikari's mind.

Slowly but surely Hikari left the infirmary and made her way to the same locker room she changed out of her hero costume and back into her uniform. She took her time walking back, letting the last of the day's rays wash over her face.

_Man, I hope I didn't freak anyone out when I blacked out. I wonder if anyone came to visit, or if Recovery Girl shooed them out like a regular nurse…_

"Hey, Hikari!"

Hikari whirled around and saw Ochako and Kaminari walking side-by-side, a stack of books in both their hands. She waved weakly as her friend excitedly approached her as best as she could without dropping the books.

"Your match was super cool! I can't believe you were able to make that giant shield at the end!" cheered Ochako as she bounced on her heels.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. Pretty risky, though," Hikari agreed, rubbing the back of her head.

"I wanna face off again," Kaminari butted in. He jabbed a thumb to his chest. "Next time, I won't go so easy on you!"

A determined grin stretched on Hikari's face. "You're on!"

The three entered the classroom and found Midoriya at the other doorway to the classroom. He was surrounded by a few other classmates, looking flustered by their presence.

"Hey, Midoriya!" Ochako shouted. She ran to his side and looked at the sling. "Why didn't she heal your injuries?"

"Oh, well, it has to do with how much stamina I'm using," he answered.

_That makes sense. I guess that's why Recovery Girl gave me those supplements instead,_ Hikari mused to herself. She leaned against the wall, trying to save her energy, and closed her eyes. _But even then, I'm still really tired. I'm gonna have a good night's sleep when I get home. _

The sound of running feet interrupted Hikari's thoughts. Through her droopy eyes she saw a flash of green run away. _Midoriya… what's he doing? _

Mina, Ochako, and Tsuyu were looking at the front of the school through the large glass. Hikari followed suit and saw Bakugou hunkered down as he walked to the U.A gates. Midoriya appeared and began to say something to him. Although she had no idea what was being said, it looked like it only angered Bakugou. He yelled out something in return and looked like he was going to walk away but was stopped again, this time by All Might.

"I wonder what that was all about," Mina wondered out loud.

"The fated battle between rivals," concluded Ochako, her hands clenched in fists.

"Whatever Midoriya was saying, it looked like Bakugou really wanted to punch him," added Tsuyu, a finger to her chin.

_I can only wonder what that means for the two of them…_

/

Hikari was already running late to school (curse the lack of energy from yesterday's training!) and the fact that she was _still _sleepy did not help her foul mood. Despite the bad start, she ran, determined to get to school on time… or so she thought.

Reporters with large cameras and microphones crowded the U.A gate, blocking any ability for anyone to squeeze through. Hikari held her breath and pushed through the horde of reporters.

"Can you tell us what it's like to have All Might as a teacher?" a reporter aggressively interrogated, shoving her microphone to her face.

"Was that not public knowledge…?" Hikari muttered. She strained her neck to avoid getting impaled.

Big mistake. The noise of reporters grew deafeningly louder at her remark. More questions hurled her way, frantic to find out more from her. Exasperated, Hikari elbowed her way through the crowd and made it just in time for class.

She sat behind Midoriya as Aizawa reviewed his and Bakugou's performances from the combat training.

"And Hinata," Aizawa drawled. Hikari snapped to attention as she waited for his input on her performance. "Although you weren't injured like Midoriya, you'll need better control of how much solar power you have left. I don't want a repeat of you falling unconscious."

"Uh, yeah!" _Man, he still scares me! I thought he was gonna expell me!_

"Let's get down to business," Aizawa continued. "Our first task… will decide your future."

_Is it another quirk test? _Hikari felt queasy at the thought.

"You all need to pick a class representative."_ Oh good, just normal school stuff. _At this everyone burst into shouts, declaring their candidacy.

"Pick me guys! I wanna be class rep!"

"Hey, I'll take it!"

"Yeah, you're gonna need me."

"Someone with style **—"**

"I'm totally the right pick!"

_Yeah, I'm no good at this leadership stuff,_ thought Hikari as she stifled a laugh at her classmate's antics. _If it's gonna be anyone, I'd definitely pick-_

"SILENCE, EVERYONE, PLEASE!" Everyone turned to look at the back of the classroom where Iida had shouted.

"The class representative's duty is to _lead _others. That's not something anyone can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom," Iida explained to 1-A. "Therefore, the most logical way to fill this position is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader."

_It's pretty obvious you want us to vote for you, Iida. _Still, his explanation wasn't a bad one.

Some students wondered aloud about who to trust, but they settled down as papers were passed out for them to pick their representative.

Hikari looked down at the slip of paper she received. Slowly, she wrote her choice.

/

Well, that didn't go at all how she expected.

_I got zero votes… but I kinda expected that. _Hikari's name was near the bottom of the list. She scanned her eyes up the list. Yaoyorozu had two votes, and the person who received three votes…

"HOW DID I GET THREE VOTES?!" Midoriya cried in shock.

"Okay, you idiots, who voted for him?!" barked Bakugou, rising from his seat. Hikari could practically feel the smoke shooting out of his ears. She also could've sworn that she heard sparks pop in his palms.

_Well, I didn't vote for Midoriya, but I thought Iida would be the one to win, _Hikari thought as she glanced across the classroom. With his fists clenched, Iida tearfully muttered, "I… I appreciate the one vote, but I can't argue with the system I chose."

"So you voted for someone else, huh?" asked Yaoyorozu.

"But you knew it was best to vote for yourself, right?" Satou agreed. "What were you trying to prove, Iida?"

"Alright, the class rep is Midoriya, and our deputy is Yaoyorozu," announced Aizawa without fanfare. Even though Yaoyorozu looked calm and collected, Midoriya was a bundle of nerves.

_I wonder how this will play out…_

/

"It's always so crowded in here," noted Ochako as she ate her rice with a pair of chopsticks.

"That's because students from the support, management, and hero courses all share the same cafeteria," explained Iida as he ate from his own lunch.

"It's still a lot of people. It's a miracle everyone can get their food," Hikari added, setting her tray next to Midoriya's.

Midoriya, meanwhile, looked crestfallen. He lowered his chopsticks and sighed. "Guys, I'm kinda worried about the class rep thing. I don't think I'm qualified," he confessed.

Ochako, Hikari, and Iida were quick to reassure him. "Your courage and quick thinking under stress will help make you a worthy leader, not to mention the strength you demonstrated," Iida explained, "Those are the reasons I voted for you, at least."

"You were one of the three?!" gasped the greenette.

Ochako turned to Iida and asked, "Didn't you want to be rep really badly? I mean, you do look the part, cause of the glasses."

"Well, I voted for you, but not because of the glasses," Hikari began, "You had the guts to get onto Bakugou the first day and you also did great on the battle training the other day. " She paused to take a bite of food. "You're also a good leader Iida, don't beat yourself down about it."

Iida's face flushed at her praise. "Thank you for the vote, Hinata. Even then, wanting a job and being suited to it are quite different things. Observing the Iida Family's Hero Agency has taught me that much."

"Agency?" the trio chorused.

"Hold on, what does your family do?" Midoriya asked.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing…"

"You know, I've been wondering something about you," Ochako wondered, leaning closer to observe Iida's face. "Admit it, Iida: you're filthy rich, just like Hikari!"

Hikari choked on her rice as Iida's face paled at her declaration.

"O-Ochako! You can't just say things like that out loud!" she coughed, thumping her fist to her chest.

"I was afraid people would treat me differently if they knew about my family," Iida admitted. He turned his head away in shame. In curiosity, Hikari, Ochako, and Midoriya leaned forward, pressing the blue-haired boy to explain.

"You see, the Iidas have been pro heroes for generations. It runs in our blood," he explained as if he were lecturing a class. The trio gasped in surprise. "Are the three of you familiar with the Engine Hero: Ingenium?"

Midoriya slammed his hands down on the table as he leaned forward in excitement. "I know all about him! He's a super popular pro with sixty-five sidekicks working alongside him at his Tokyo agency!" He paused his rambling. "Wait, don't tell me…"

"He's my elder brother!"

"Woah, that's amazing!" blurted Hikari out loud as her eyes widened. "That's a lot to live up to!"

"Ingenium is an unmatched commander who honors the hero code. As the second oldest Iida son, I strive to be just like him. However, I think it might be a bit soon for me to be in a real leadership role. You, for example." Iida turned to look at Midoriya "You have been an example of what the judges were looking for in the practical exam. A rep needs that sort of insight."

Hikari was left speechless. _Not a good leader, my ass! Iida could lead an army if he wanted to!_

"Wow, Iida, I think that's the first time I've seen you smile!" Ochako teased.

"Wha-What do you mean? I smile all the time!" Iida shook his head. "Nevermind that. Hinata?"

Hikari jumped in her seat. "Hm—?!"

"I believe Uraraka mentioned that you are somewhat like me?"

"Uh, yeah." She cleared her throat before continuing. "Well, we're not exactly the same. My dad is just a secretary at the International Hero Agency, nothing big. He tells me that he only does hero work in case there aren't enough pros working—"

"The Shielding Hero: Aegis, right?" interrupted Midoriya, stars shining in his eyes. "I can't believe I didn't make the connection sooner! Your quirks are so similar!"

Hikari was stunned silent, eyes wide and somewhat flattered. "Wow, yeah, that's him. He isn't that popular or well-known, I'm surprised you know him, Midoriya. How'd you know?"

His face flushed red as he looked away. "Ah, well, it's just that I really like pro heroes and look up to them, that's all!"

The teal-haired girl smiled as she began to eat again. "It's nice to know that there's at least one fan of my dad's out there, after my mom—"

_RRRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!_

_"Warning, level three security breach. All students, please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion." _

* * *

**A/N: So, uh, I'm not dead, I pinkie promise y'all. I thought I'd get more writing done during quarantine but guess who's a college kiddo? This (demi)gal! N e ways, to celebrate, I'll give y'all a new chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	10. X - Looks Like He Saved The Day

"_Warning, level three security breach. All students, please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion." _

"What's a level three security breach?" Iida asked the boy next to him.

"It means that someone's managed to get past the school's barriers," he responded. "This hasn't happened in my three years here. We should get going!"

Tried as they might, the halls were packed to the brim with panicked students, rushing to leave the building. Screams filled the air as they pushed and shoved one another.

"So much for an orderly fashion," Hikari grunted as she fought against the crowd. "We'll never make it out of here!"

"This is a total mob!" Ochako's voice sounded strained as she was pushed against her friend. It became more difficult for Hikari to breathe.

"Everyone was quick to react, as I'd expect of U.A students," Iida added amongst the loud voices.

"Sure, but they're also causing a huge panic!" shouted Midoriya, fighting against the current but losing. His green hair soon disappeared from Hikari's vision.

"Midoriya!"

"Hikari, can't you make a shield for space?" asked Ochako frantically. "We have to save Midoriya!"

The teal-haired girl shook her head, although one could hardly tell, given the circumstance. "I'd do it, but I can't! I don't have any space! Not to mention I'd end up hurting someone, the last thing we need right now!"

"It's the press outside!" Hikari heard Iida shout over everyone. "I was afraid it was some attack on the school, but there's no need to panic, everyone!"

"Just the press? Then why- Gah!"

Suddenly Hikari and Ochako were swept up by the crowd just like Midoriya. They strayed further away from Iida at a rapid pace.

"Uraraka! Touch my hand!" Iida's hand was outstretched towards the brunette. "Make me float above everyone else!"

Slowly, but surely, Ochako outstretched her hand towards him. A shove from Hikari barely made their fingertips touch, but it was all Iida needed. He was lifted into the air, and with a shout, he cartwheeled through the air and slammed against the exit sign above the doorway.

"_Listen up, everything is okay!"_ shouted Iida, silencing the students. "It's just the media outside! There's absolutely nothing to worry about, everything's fine! We're U.A students; we need to remain calm and prove that we're the best of the best!"

"And he thought he wouldn't make a good leader," quipped Hikari with a smirk. She turned to Ochako. "Looks like he saved the day."

/

"Uh, okay! So we need to figure out who the other class officers will be!"

After the fiasco in the hall, classes resumed their normal schedule, and Hikari and class 1-A were back in the classroom; Midoriya and Yaoyorozu were at the front of the class. Nothing out of the ordinary, until-

"But first, there's something that I want to say."

_Looks like something's up with Midoriya, _Hikari noted with interest. Her initial boredom was gone, and she craned her neck to see what he was going to say.

"I've thought alot about this… and I think that Tenya Iida should be our class rep!"

Immediately, Hikari looked over at the bespectacled boy, who stirred in his seat in surprise.

"He was able to capture everyone's attention and get us in line." As Midoriya spoke, his voice became more confident and his shoulders relaxed. "So I believe... he should be the one leading our class from now on!"

Murmurs of agreement rose from the rest of 1-A, Hikari's included, until Aizawa interrupted from his sleeping bag. "This is a waste of time. I don't care who the rep is, just hurry it up."

Iida, though, rose from his seat. "If Midoriya is nominating me for this job, then humbly accept. I pledge to carry out the duties of class rep to the best of my abilities!"

/

When Hikari returned home, she didn't even get the chance to remove her shoes before her father took her into a giant bear hug and cried, "Hikari! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He checked her face for any sign of bruises.

"Pfft, Dad, I'm fine," Hikari giggled as she pushed his hands away. "'Sides, it wasn't anything big, just the press looking for breadcrumbs. They act like vultures."

Mamoru sighed in relief, but worry was still etched into his face as he tried to smile. "I'm just glad you're okay. I don't know what I would've done if you got hurt"

"Dad, I'm telling you, I'm _fine._ Plus, Iida handled the situation like a boss." Hikari launched into the story of how she, Midorya, Ochako, and Iida were crammed in the halls and Iida flying into the air thanks to Zero Gravity, comically adding sound effects and large hand movements. They laughed together, and for once, all was well.


	11. XI - The USJ

_A /N: I commissioned the wonderful spokifing for a lineart piece of Hikari! It can be found on the Quotev and Wattpad versions of this fic. She's on Instagram, go check out her art!_

"Today's training will be a little different."

It was the next day, and the frenzy from the security breach had died down. Hikari sat at attention and listened to the hero exercise Aizawa was explaining to 1-A.

"You'll have three instructors: me, All, Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you," he continued, making Hikari pause in thought. '_Three heroes…? Who could the third one be?'_

"Sir! What kind of training is this?" asked Sero, who sat at Hikari's right. In response, Aizawa held up a card that said _'RESCUE' _in large, blue letters. "You'll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that," the teacher explained. Murmurs of excitement rose from the class.

"Disasters, huh? Sounds like we're in for a big workout."

"Real hero stuff! This is what separates the men from the boys. I'm shaking with excitement!"

"Finally I'll get to show off how good I am in water, ribbit."

"Guys, I'm not finished yet," interrupted Aizawa, silencing the class. "What you wear in this exercise is up to you. I know you're excited about costumes." At the press of a button, the numbered cases emerged from the wall again. "But keep in mind that you haven't gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities. This special training is at an off-campus facility, so we'll be getting a bus to get there. That's all, start getting ready."

When Aizawa finished, Hikari and the rest of 1-A rose from their seats. Hikari walked over to her locker, but paused when Midoriya was the only one still in his seat. She returned and tapped his shoulder. "Hey, we gotta get going," she told him. At her touch, he was visibly rattled out of his thoughts. "Uh, yeah!"

/

Hikari chose to wear her hero costume, and so did the rest of the class. Everyone, that is, except for Midoriya, who wore his support items with his gym clothes.

"Midoriya? Why are you wearing your P.E clothes? Where's your costume at?" asked Ochako.

"You saw it after the combat training," the greenette awkwardly chuckled. "It was kind of trashed. I'm still waiting for the support company to fix it up."

Hikari hummed in agreement. "Maybe it'll be done so that you can wear it the next time we have hero practice, you can sport your new costume!" Before Midoriya could say anything, a shrill whistle pierced the air. "Gather 'round, class 1-A!" Of course; it was none other than Iida.

"Using your student numbers, form two neat lines so we can load the bus efficiently!" he commanded with another tweet on his whistle.

"He really was born for this class rep stuff," Hikari weakly chuckled. Ochako and Midoriya nodded in agreement.

/

As it turned out, there was no need for orderly lines; the bus' layout was just like a city bus, unlike the charter bus Iida had envisioned, with the seats in an unorthodox fashion. By the time Hikari boarded the bus, the only seat left was the one next to Shoto Todoroki. She carefully eyed the white-and-red-haired boy, who was taking a light nap.

'_If I remember correctly, I heard that he got in through recommendations. He is pretty powerful, back when we did that heroes versus villains thing… all that ice!'_

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a roar. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

'_Why's Explodo-pants mad this time…' _Hikari sighed to herself. She straightened in her seat to listen further.

"You know, we basically just met you, so it's kinda telling that your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage," Hikari heard Kaminari tell the ash-blond, which only made him lash out even more threats.

"YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THE DAY YOU APPLIED TO THIS SCHOOL, YOU LOSER!"

Todoroki was finally roused from his sleep, and he appeared to be confused by Bakugou's yelling. "He's just getting a taste of his own medicine," Hikari whispered to him. He blinked in understanding and he closed his eyes again.

"Hey, hey, we're here," Aizawa called from the front of the bus, "Stop messing around." A chorus of _yes, sirs _rang out and the bus was calmer as they came to a stop.

/

"Hello, everyone! I've been waiting for you!"

Standing in front of the U.A students was The Space Hero: Thirteen donned in their hero suit. Hikari could barely hear Midoriya's rambling. She was currently being shaken back and forth by an over enthusiastic Ochako.

"Hikari, look, look! It's Thirteen!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, Ochako. Now stop shaking me 'fore I hurl my breakfast**—**"

"I can't wait to show you what's inside," they continued, and led the class inside the dome-shaped building. The grandiose exterior did not disappoint what awaited for them inside.

"Holy crap! It's like an amusement park!" Hikari shouted. Inside was a small lake with an askew ship, a landslide, a contained fire, a windstorm within a building, among other things.

"I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different types of disasters!" Thirteen declared as they looked on proudly at the building. "I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, but you can call it USJ!"

_'Just like Universal Studios Japan,' _Hikari realized. _'It's the same acronym.'_

Ochako turned to the tealette, all but bouncing on her heels. "Wow, where do you wanna go first, Hikari? I wanna do the landslide!"

"Hm, if I had to pick…" Hikari placed a hand on her hip and another on her chin. "Maybe the mountain range? I could do that."

"Clock's ticking, we should get started," Aizawa interrupted.

"Excellent!" chirped Thirteen. "Before we begin, let me just say one thing. Well, maybe two things. Possibly three, or four, or five..." They trailed off bashfully, but refocused. They held up their hand, the fingertips covered in thimble-like contraptions. "Listen carefully. I'm sure you're aware that I have a powerful quirk. It's called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust."

"Yeah, you've used Black Hole to save people from all kinds of disasters before, haven't you?" Midoriya added. In the corner of her eye, Hikari could see Ochako nod enthusiastically like a bobble head as the pro hero spoke.

"That's true," Thirteen agreed, "but my quirk could also very easily be used to kill." The nodding stopped.

"Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous. In our superhuman society, all quirks are certified and strictly regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be. Please don't forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly, even if you're trying to do something virtuous, like rescuing someone.

"Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your quirk's potential, and because of All Might's combat training, you've likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people. Carry those lessons into this class. Today, you're going to learn how to use your quirks to save people's lives. You won't be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help. After all, that's what being a hero is all about, ensuring the safety of others." They finished with a bow. "That's all I have to say. Thank you so much for listening."

Class 1-A broke out in cheers and applause, complimenting Thirteen's powerful speech. _'They're really awesome,'_ Hikari thought.

"Right, now that that's over**—**"

Before Aizawa could finish, the lights running around the circumference of the dome crackled with electricity and shut off, plunging the USJ into near darkness. _'What is going on?' _Hikari thought, looking for the source. It didn't take long for something to catch her eye. "There! In front of the fountain!" she exclaimed. "Something is morphing!"

The water in front of the fountain started and stopped erratically before a purple vortex appeared in front of it. It grew larger and larger, completely covering half of the building.

"Stay together! Don't move!" their teacher commanded. "Thirteen, protect the students!"

"What is that thing?" Kirishima asked, and Hikari followed his gaze. People were coming out of the portal en masse. "Wait, has the training started already? I thought we were rescuing people."

Midoriya took a step forward to get a better look, but Aizawa barked, "Stay back!" Hikari saw him pull his goggles over his eyes. "This is real," he continued, "Those are villains."


	12. XII - All Hell Breaks Loose

Hikari, startled, took a step back. '_No, no way! But how did real villains get inside? Isn't U.A supposed to be guarded by top notch security?' _

More and more villains poured out of the vortex, some looking stranger than others. Soon, there was a large horde of them waiting at the bottom of the fountain. Perhaps the strangest ones of all were the blue-haired villain covered from head to toe in severed human hands.

'_Were those… real?'_

"The only heroes I see are Thirteen and Eraser," a voice boomed across the USJ. "Perplexing. According to the schedule we've retrieved, All Might should be here as well."

"So you scumbags used the press as a cover and sneaked onto campus," Aizawa realized.

'_So these are villains. People that wreak havoc for their own wants and satisfaction. What terrifying people,' _Hikari thought. '_So this is what you had to face, mom.' _As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was absolutely terrified. Being at the hands of a villain, at their mercy, created a horrible, gut-churning feeling in Hikari.

"Where is he?" asked the scraggly man. "I went through the trouble of bringing so many friends who are eager to meet him. They want All Might, the great symbol of peace. I can't believe he's not here." He paused, contemplating on a thought. "Maybe if I kill a few kids, he'll come out to play."

That was the last straw for Aizawa; his scarf forcefully burst from his neck and billowed around him, like an owl intimidating an enemy with its feathers. Thirteen outstretched a hand in front of Hikari and the rest of 1-A.

"What? Real villains?" asked Kirishima in disbelief. "No way. How could so many of them get into a U.A facility this secure?"

Yaoyorozu stepped forward, brushing against Hikari. "Yeah, Thirteen? Why aren't the alarms going off?"

"Good question; I'm not sure," they murmured, causing the class to bristle in confusion.

"Is the entire campus under attack? Or is this their only target?" Todoroki wondered out loud. "Either way, if the alarm sensors aren't being triggered, then one of these villains must have a quirk that's masking their presence here. They carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught."

Hikari looked at him as he spoke out loud and grit her teeth in desperation. '_Damn, he's probably right. But what does this mean for us?'_

"They're fools for trespassing here," he continued, "but they thought this out. Whatever their plan, they must have a concrete objective in mind. But what is it?"

Nobody had time to think of an answer to Todoroki's question. Aizawa stepped forward as he commanded, "Thirteen, get them out of here and alert the main campus. Actually, if they've got the ability to block our sensors, then they might be jamming our regular communications. too. Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school." The blond nodded and fiddled with a support device on his ear.

Midoriya stepped forward, panic evident in his voice. "What are you gonna do?! You can't fight them on your own! There's too many of them. Even if you _can _nullify their quirks, your fighting style is not suited for this. Your power works best in stealth and one-on-one fights. That's not gonna help with a group."

Aizawa, despite the in-depth lecture from Midoriya, ignored his warning. "You can't be a pro hero with one trick," he flatly replied. "I'll leave it to you, Thirteen." With that, he leapt from the top of the stairs to the base of it, the gray capture weapon gripped fiercely in his fists. Three villains prepared to attack, only to stop in confusion when their quirks did not activate. In a flash, they were apprehended and knocked out. Hikari was shocked by the skill and fight their teacher put up.

'_So many of them, and yet they're like nothing to him. But how long can he keep up? He's only one man, and All Might was supposed to be here, too.' _

"Hikari, we gotta get out of here! Come on!"

The tealette looked at Ochako, who had fear evident in her eyes, and nodded in affirmation. They ran to catch up with the rest of 1-A. Just as they were about to reach the exit of the USJ, a purple portal materialized in front of them, and the man with the portal quirk resurfaced. It struck terror in Hikari's heart for the second time.

"There is no escape for you." His gold eyes blinked open as he spoke. "It's a pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains. I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello. And besides, isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath?"

Despite his cordial introduction and polite demeanor, Hikari gasped at his declaration. Surely they couldn't do that, right? She gripped onto Ochako's arm, and she felt the brunette return the gesture.

"I believe he was supposed to be here today and yet I see no sign of him," he continued, "There must have been some sort of change in plans we could not have foreseen. Ah, well, in the end, I suppose it doesn't matter. I still have a role to play."

Before Thirteen or 1-A could wonder what his statement meant, Bakugou and Kirishima charged forward to the villain. A large explosion thanks to the ash blond engulfed Hikari's vision, making it hard to see. She heard Kirishima taunt, "Didja think we were just gonna stand around and let you tear this place to shreds?" When the smoke cleared, however, the villain had taken no damage to the explosion or Kirishima's hardened arm.

"You live up to this school's reputation," he praised as he reformed, "but you should be more careful, children. Otherwise, someone might get hurt."

"You two, get out of the way right now!" shouted Thirteen to Bakugou and Kirishima. They had uncapped a finger, ready to use Black Hole. The villain, however, beat them to the punch.

"I'll scatter you all across the facility to meet my comrades _and your deaths!" _

The villain expanded, the strange purple mist enveloping 1-A. It generated harsh winds and Hikari could feel her grip on Ochako's arm begin to slip.

"Ochako!"

"Hikari!"

Her efforts were futile. Hikari lost grip of her friend and blindly clawed the dark, losing her sense of balance as she was lifted off her feet and transported into the void.


End file.
